Above: My 30-year-old hand-painted D&D figures face off against my Final Fantasy figures for the last remaining die from my basic D&D set.

(heavenscalyx painted the woman in front center with the staff and hammer, my longtime fighter-cleric Moy Ruadh; to her left are a D&D Ranger (archer) whose name I've forgotten, a Magic User in blue named Gadrath the Unfortunate (Mom's main character), Dad's Haakon in full plate mail and shield at far left, and a bunch of fighters behind them including Gaon Birchlurcher the Elf in the blue cloak (my very first character), Raknar the Dwarf, my grog/retainer fighter Gregor Trueheart with the red-striped green shield, a couple halflings and a random fighter, and in the far back, my Aunt's thief Ralph Tharn beside my poor old cleric Brother Brussels (as in brussel sprout) with his vegetable coat of arms on his shield. Most of the better-painted figures were done by my mother — including Tharn, unfortunate shemagh and all — whereas the messy and garish monsters in the back are my feeble attempts.